A Memorable Trip to Europe!

Christmas 2016, I decided to travel to Central Europe with a Russian friend (Valentina; Valya in short) and soak in the fantastic Christmas spirit! We found some extremely cheap flight tickets to a small German town called Memmingen and return tickets from Budapest. We planned our itinerary, made our travel arrangements and applied for visa. Hola! I faced the first hurdle and my first-ever visa rejection for no valid reasons apparently. The German Embassy refused my visa because I had only reserved my accommodation by credit card and not by payment, while they issued the same Schengen visa to my Russian friend with the same conditions and documents. Heart-broken, now I was in a dilemma whether to cancel the trip or apply again for the visa. On my friend’s insistence, I decided to apply again, this time with partial payments at hostels. However, I had to undergo some strange questionnaire session by the Embassy official, asking me why I am going to this little town and not directly to Munich or Berlin and why I have planned such an unusual route for my trip. Probably they were satisfied with my answers and after a long wait, I finally got my Schengen tourist visa. Valya was responsible for all the information about our accommodation bookings and reservations.

On December 18th we landed in Memmingen. The town was covered with fresh snow. From here we were to travel to a small village in Austria where our host lived. It was supposed to be a two hours journey with one train change. Just as we left the first train at a station named Kempten and boarded the second train, Valya realized that she had forgotten her backpack in the previous train. She ran back to find it, unfortunately the train had already left. I was waiting in the second train and soon it left the station too, with my friend left behind. I had no information about the address of our Austrian host and did not know how to contact my friend as both our Russian sim cards were not working. I just knew the destination station (Reutte in Austria) and after reaching there I decided to wait for Valya to reach. It was already evening 6pm, dark and snowing with no open cafe or restaurant in sight! I was hungry and thirsty, I went around the village looking for wi-fi signals but all in vain. At the station I met a kind Bangladeshi couple who offered me some sandwiches and asked me to take shelter at their home for the night. But I kindly refused saying that my friend would come looking for me and she is already in trouble, so I must wait. With their help, I contacted Valya and got the address of our host. I also learnt that Valya was now at Lindau, a faraway German town near the Swiss border where she was instructed to go by the railway officials to find her backpack. But she did not get it there either and was on her way to Reutte by taxi. At 9pm, the station was isolated and closing down, hence I decided to go to our host's place. At midnight, Valya reached there too. It was such a relief to see her again, safe and sound. It was a hard and adventurous day, and we were glad to be together again albeit after losing a lot!

The Austrian Alps on our way

Next day we were on our way to the beautiful Neuschwanstein Castle. We travelled by bus and horse carriages to reach the palace and it was a breathtaking view from the top. The guided tour gave us a glimpse of the life of the Bavarian King who lived there. 

In the afternoon we left for Munich from where we would go on a road trip to Berlin. It was the night of 19th December, we boarded our camping car and our driver was kind enough to offer us some delicious Italian dinner and coffee freshly prepared in the vehicle kitchen. It was an exciting experience for us as we had never been on a camping car before. We slept comfortably, passed through dark roads, stopped at gas stations and had warm tea at times.
However we were blissfully oblivious that at the same night there was a deadly attack in Berlin where many were killed at a Christmas market. We had no internet access and hence had no information about the happenings. Back home, my parents were insanely worried knowing the news and tried to contact me but failed. They contacted my institute in Moscow but it did not help either.
We reached Berlin next morning after twelve hours journey,. As soon as we checked into our hostel and had wi-fi access I received about 200 Whatsapp messages and numerous Facebook messages asking about my well-being! I was surprised and soon realized the matter. It took me some time to pacify my parents and inform my institute that we were safe.

The Berlin Dome

At Potsdam

Berlin was mourning, cold and foggy. All Christmas markets were closed for a day. In the evening I had a reunion with an old ISU friend, Elias over coffee and we enjoyed talking about old times. The following day we went on a guided walking tour around the city and I learnt a lot about how the World Wars had destroyed Berlin, about the Berlin Wall, the Communist regime and the life of people during these harsh times. I realized that the spirit of the city is much stronger and an attack of any scale cannot break it down. The next day we visited Potsdam, a beautiful island complex of Prussian Era palaces and castles in the outskirts of Berlin. Walking through the castles was like reviving my old history lessons and learning more about how the lives of people of this area has changed over the last 200 years. We visited the Charlottenburg Palace in the evening and spent some time at the Christmas market.

Next we arrived at Prague. This magical city completely bowled me with its charm. We visited all the major attractions (Old Square, New Town, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle) and learnt about the rich 2000 years history of this Bohemian city. The city is so colourful and picturesque that we could not stop taking pictures! 

Prague Panorama with Castle 

Christmas Market at Prague Old Square

Food was quite cheap in Prague and we enjoyed a lot of hot chocolate, hot wine, cakes, sausages and a traditional sweet called Trdlo. The city was glistening with crystal shops and beautiful decorations. It is super romantic and vibrant, and I plan to be back in future with my love.

Us and the beautiful Prague

I met my college friend Shaista, who came to Prague from Germany and we had a great time chatting and sharing our new lives and experiences.

Our last stop was Budapest, the capital of Hungary. We reached there on 25th of December and to our dismay, all shops and markets were closed for 2 days for the Christmas holidays. Here I met again with another friend Balaji from PRL Ahmedabad. The next two days were full of fun with the new found friends.
Budapest is a composite of two cities on either side of river Danube. The hilly Buda, on the west banks and flat Pest on the east banks.

Matthias Church at Buda

Us in front of St. Stephen's Basilica at Pest

We learnt more about the city and the history in a guided walking tour. The view of Pest from the Fisherman's Bastion on the Buda side was amazing! The weather was kind to us, the skies were clear and a great day to take pictures. Hungarian food is too tempting and tasty, we enjoyed a number of traditional delicacies such as the Kurtoskalacs (chimney cake), hot fruit punch, potato pancakes and lots of other delicious street food.

UNESCO World Heritage View Budapest Panorama

Szechenyi Bath

Budapest is also known as the city of thermal spas, with its numerous geothermal sources. We visited the Szechenyi Baths, Europe's largest thermal bath. We spent the entire day indulging in the pools maintained at different temperatures. It was great fun to bath in the outdoor pools maintained at 38°C, run through the chilling air (3°C) to the sauna at 50°C and then jump into ice cold water!

The entire experience was very relaxing and relieved all my body pains due in last few days of constant walking and travelling.

Our Adventure Route

That night we spent sleeping at the airport and flew to Moscow early morning.
PS: We came back with more than 4000 pictures of our trip and lots of amazing experiences that will forever be remembered. 😍

PPS: Valya wrote an email to the German Railways (Duetsche Bahn DB) and they responded that they have found her backpack all intact. They shall soon send it to her address in Moscow! 😄